Hits to the head will always be a part of hockey

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SCOTT MORRISON

Like the headaches Brandon Sutter no doubt is experiencing still, the issue of hits to the head in the NHL will not go away, either.

Eventually, Sutter's headache will subside. Not sure you can predict the same for the league.

Sutter, of course, is the latest on-ice casualty, the most recent victim of an accidental hit to the head. The Carolina Hurricanes rookie suffered a concussion and whiplash on Saturday night when he put his head down and was leveled by New York Islanders veteran Doug Weight near centre ice.

By pure hockey standards, it was a clean hit. No penalty called, no penalty required. Sutter was reaching for the puck and the hit was devastating, but clean, meaning no elbow or forearm or high stick or interference.

But it did involve a shoulder hitting the head, albeit unintentionally. Indeed, the player who was penalized was Sutter ... for having his head down while in a vulnerable position.

On the heels, of course, of Montreal Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn being concussed a week earlier by Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Kurt Sauer, the debate over hits to the head has been renewed around the league.

The problem remains, though, that the easy answer isn't the answer that is easy to sell at the pro level, meaning not everyone is convinced that an automatic penalty for a hit to the head, regardless of the intent, as they do in Ontario junior hockey, is the way to go.

Fact is, a year ago, the NHL's general managers decided it wasn't the way to go. When they debated the situation last winter, when there were several more injuries, all agreed they didn't like to see players getting hurt, but that hockey is also a physical game.

The question was asked, because the league has taken away low hits. If it eliminated hits to the upper body, what would be left?

So, it was decided that as long as the hits to the head are accidental and not a head hunt, then it's part of the game and players best keep their's up.

The GMs were right then and should maintain their stance now. Hockey is a physical game and injuries are going to happen, especially if a player has his head down playing the puck. It might not seem right or fair to criticize the victim but, with the rules the way they are, a player with his head down is making a mistake. Contact is going to come and not necessarily with the intention of inflicting a legal blow to the head.

If there is an elbow or stick involved, or if the hit is blatantly early or late, then it is up to NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell to hit hard with supplemental discipline.

But punishing big hits because of injury just doesn't seem right.

EQUIPMENT CHANGE

Remember, too, there are going to be shoulders and heads colliding because of the speed of the game, because of size differences. That was a big part of what happened with Sauer and Kostitsyn.

For now, the next step shouldn't be another rule change and another major alteration to the game. It should, and will, be a change to the equipment.

Just as the league and the players worked at softening elbow pads, by adding a half inch of foam, by next season it will have to do the same with shoulder pads, to add the extra layer of padding to help soften the blow.

Even that, of course, won't entirely eliminate injuries. Players who play a physical game with their head down are going to get hit and quite often will get hurt. And it won't necessarily be a concussion. There are many ways players in that position can get dinged.

One way the league could modify the rules, ever so slightly, would be to allow the accidental shoulder hits to the head only if the player has the puck on his stick. If a player has just shot or passed the puck, then make an accidental hit to the head a penalty. That would, in part, address the issue of players in a vulnerable position getting hit and hurt.

Otherwise, the solution is to adjust the equipment and keep your head up.